Let's get honest about a Problem. Have you ever felt any of the followings in your professional career while attending a meeting or in a forum or to an Individual?
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😕 I have an important doubt about this concept, should I ask?
😡 Hmmm, I shall clarify this doubt from my 'best friend' who is also attending this meeting. He/She must be understanding it well. I'll ask him/her later! At the end of the meeting, we are on the same boat.
😔 Should I interrupt the speaker and ask this question? No, Later is better!
😳 I have a doubt. How to form this question correctly? Will I make a grammatical mistake?
😨 I am a junior, let me not ask this question to this senior guy who is presenting in the meeting.
😦 Not a big deal, anyway the meeting is being recorded. I'll view it later and understand. Why to ask now!
😓 Let someone ask first. I don't want to be the black sheep!
😑 I rather pretend to know it, wow that works!
😟 Heart in beating fast. Oops, no one should pull me first to clarify anything.
😮 This is all-hands meeting with the CEO. Man, How much guts that girl got to ask question to CEO!
If you have never felt any of the above, Great Going and keep it up! Now for the other folks(count me in) who felt any(or all) of the above, I have few things for you. Keep reading...
Self Realizations
Here are some realizations I got from my experience in dealing with the Fear of Asking Questions. All that I could do is, to share my learning with you and hoping, it will help.
No question is a Silly question
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(There's) no such thing as a stupid question
It is so very true and the most important mind set we need to have. If you have any assumption that, your question might turn out to be silly or dumb, it is the thought that needs to be smarter, not the question.
There are others with Same Questions
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One of the mistakes is assuming that, my Question is not important. This stops us from asking it and discussing it further. Believe me, there are others in the meeting room got similar doubts and may be thinking the same way you do. Hence the call for action is to, Just Ask!
You can't be a Pantomath
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Pantomath is a non-existent person who wants to know and knows everything. We stop ourselves from clarifying doubts many times just because we have a feeling of knowing it already. It is much wise to clarify things by asking it.
More Questions results in more Discussions
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Asking Questions in a meeting is like, having a good personal hygiene for the body. Questions lead to discussions, discussions lead to decision and conclusion. It is very healthy to have the culture of asking questions in a meeting/forum.
Asking Questions may earn you Respect
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As you may find that, many people do not take charge to ask questions(... and that is the motivation of this post), people who ask questions in a forum are looked upon as respected ones. Be among them!
Way forward..
Start with smaller forums
All that you would like to do to take the step forward in getting rid of the fear of Asking Questions, start with a small and known forum(or meeting). This helps to gain your confidence faster and gradually expand to other bigger forums. You know what? It is just a habit, once you get, YOU GOT IT!
Accept more Customer facing roles and responsibilities
I have also seen an amount of acceleration in killing this fear when we are put into a Customer Facing job . We need to learn doing it as mandatory as part of our Job, No other way out! So, Challenge Yourself!
Caution
Don't ask too many
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It is better to restrict yourself to maximum of 2-3 questions at a go. This is to make sure, the presenter/speaker doesn't lose interest in answering. A Check and Balance is always better.
Before we Wrap Up
You may want to watch this Inspiring video(just 96 seconds) by Ken Okel
To end it, there is a famous Saying, "He who asks question remains a fool for 5 minutes. He who does not ask, remains a fool forever". The Choice is with us.
Hope you find it useful. Please share your thoughts in the Comment section of the post.
Originally this post was published @ https://atapas.hashnode.dev/fear-of-asking-question-at-work-never-again-cjvf9shh2000d1ls1skazn5mr
Top comments (3)
nice post. i am normally never afraid of asking questions at work, but i really have a problem in asking question in public - at meetups or all hands meetings.
my 2cents about normal questions at work, during a small meeting or while just doing something you don't know or don-t understand, is really just ask. it's the only way to learn and to avoid bigger mistakes. I saw too many times devs fail on developing a feature because they were afraid to ask ( the stakeholder for a clarification of the requirement, or some more experienced guy in the team for advice or help).
Of course after the question and the answer - to make it really a positive learning experience you should save some time to dig deeper into the topic. Ask to learn something is good, ask just to solve your problem and move on is a big No.
Anyway When i really feel dumb about something i don't know or understand i normally quote / or send via slack this meme: -)
I try to avoid ask if people have questions and instead assume they do.
Depending on the setting, I like to end things by asking: